Chris Perham, who came third in last year's British Triathlon Junior Super Series final rankings, proved too good for a strong field that included last year's winner Matt Sharp and Mark Buckingham, second last year. 

Triathlon on TV - WATCH THE ACTION

The 2015 Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Blenheim Palace Triathlon, the first round of the British Triathlon Super Series will be broadcast on Channel 4 on Sunday 27 June at 6.10am – don’t miss it.

 

Perham finished the sprint race (750m/20km/5km) in 1:00.36, just four seconds ahead of Matthew Wright (1:00.40) in second and Morgan Davies a further four seconds back in 1:00:44. Perham's strong swim leg lay the basis for his victory as he came from came out of the water a second behind the leader, Alastair Rogers. The bike leg then set up a thrilling final leg, with the top three men's finishers running the top three run times, all within seven seconds of each other.

 

Chris enthused: “This is my first senior super series triathlon and it was certainly an unexpected win. I put the power down in the swim and stayed in the pack for the bike. I came out of transition well so that meant there was a small group of us for the run which paid off - I’m happy with that. Going into the race I hoped to get on the podium so I’m really happy with the win. Next up is the 2015 Holten ETU Triathlon Premium European Cup.” 

 

It was, though, a disappointing day for last year's men's Super Series champion, Mark Buckingham, who came home in fourth place. Iestyn Harrett, fourth at Blenheim last year and third in the final Super Series rankings, came sixth.

 

The women's race saw a great start to the season for India Lee, who finished second in the rankings last year but endured a difficult opener at Blenheim, finishing 18th. This year, though, Lee (1:07:57) got off to the best possible start, beating last year's Junior Super Series champion Sophie Coldwell (1:08:37) into second and Jenny Manners (1:09:54) into third.

 

India commented: “I’m absolutely delighted with the win today - especially being in the front pack for the swim, I’m really pleased with that. I’ve been working on the swim so it was great that it gave me a good set up for the bike. Then I worked hard with Sophie (Coldwell) on the bike so I could finish off with a strong run. It’s been a great day and I’m really happy.” 

 

Lee laid a solid foundation for her race in the swim leg, emerging from the water seven seconds behind the first woman, Hannah Kitchen, who finished fourth in 1:11:15, before pulling away from the pack on the bike and then run legs, on both of which she was the fastest woman.

 

In the Junior women's race, Bronwen Owen recorded a two-place improvement on last year's third place to win in 1:09:57. Owen was also third in the final rankings last year and will be hoping for a similar improvement come the end of the season. Ffion-Haf Harrett was second in 01:11:25 and Madeleine Henderson third in 01:12:18

 

The Junior men's race was won by Miles Burton in 01:01:16 with Alex West (1:01:33) second and James Teagle (1:01:37) third. 

 

The Youth Super Series race was held over the Super Sprint course (400m/10km/2.5km) and was won by the familiar figure of Ben Dijkstra (38min 35sec), who came second at Blenheim last year on his way to eighth place in the overall standings. Hayden Burton (38:47), brother of Junior men's winner Miles, came home second on an excellent day for the Burton family and last year's Blenheim and overall Youth Series champion, Alex Chantler-Mayne, came third in 39:06.

 

In the women's Youth race Kate Waugh (44:04) continued where she left off in last year's Super Series by winning, something she managed in all of her Super Series races in 2014. Waugh was followed home by Olivia Mathias (44:29) and Caitlin Roper (44:47). 

 

The Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Blenheim Palace Triathlon was the first race of the 2015 British Triathlon Super Series.